Study Guide for En 211 -- canon/non-canon

Above is a photograph of the Emily Dickinson House and Museum in Amherst.

Canonical

Nathaniel Hawthorne -- both realism & fantasy -- historical & moral topics; for a time, lived at Brook Farm (a commune), but he soon grew disillusioned with it -- argues against human perfection -- "The Birth Mark" and "Young Goodman Brown" -- associated with Salem, MA (place of 1692 witch trial)

E.A. Poe -- fantasy!!! -- "The Raven," "Annabel Lee," and "The Fall of the House of Usher" -- read by Europeans but wrote for Americans -- associated with Baltimore -- poems meant to be performed -- internal rhyme -- gothic, sensation

Walt Whitman -- first of the moderns -- good gray poet/good gay poet but was transgressive in his day -- Leaves of Grass, Song of Myself, When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd, O Captain! My Captain -- self-scrutiny/observation of nature & other people -- Civil War & Lincoln -- desire to unify the nation through poetry -- was newspaper editor in New Orleans for a short time -- look at #1, 3, & 13

Emily Dickinson -- first of the moderns -- more concise poetry -- manuscript poet -- rarely published during own lifetime -- interesting publication history -- look at "Indian Summer"/130, 185, 288, 324, 328, 449, & 465 -- correspondence with T.W. Higginson -- http://www.sonnets.org/higginson.htm#010

Herman Melville -- "Bartleby" was written during the downside of his career -- he was known for stories about exotic places; eventually, he chose to stop publishing his work and even writing -- did not become popular until 20th century -- art novel/short story vs. entertainment -- "Bartleby" has a lot to say about America in the 19th century, masculinity, and work

H.D. Thoreau -- Walden and "Resistance to Civil Government" began as lectures -- Walden -- appears to be one year in his book but was actually two years -- Walden Pond was close to Concord -- compare to Alex/Chris in Into the Wild and Timothy Treadwell in Grizzly Man

 

Non-canonical

Washington Irving (?) -- but he used to be canonical as did Henry Wadsworth Longfellow -- remember "The Wife"?

Margaret Fuller -- but she is a Transcendentalist -- our reading was journalism about Blackwell's Island

Harriet Beecher Stowe -- but she was the little lady who started the big war [with Uncle Tom's Cabin], according to Abraham Lincoln -- we looked at her sketches

Fanny Fern -- but she was incredibly popular -- emotional truth -- wanted readers to get beyond the physical details and/or pretty pictures

Catherine Maria Sedgwick-- early American writer -- we can try to figure out where H....but can we? - Mrs. Courland as woman writer/mother/older woman

 

canonical -- a reading that is central to our definition of literature and is most frequently read or taught -- what comes to mind or up in conversation -- this term has less meaning nowadays  (unless of course you are talking about the Simpsons' Raven, which succeeds because most people are familiar with Poe & his poem).

The canon changes over time.  What is important to us now?

Comparison between halves of the semester

-- more life writing in the first semester; more fiction in the second half of the semester

-- country/culture becoming more stable, better technology, health care, more established, more urban, less need to explore the frontier, more centralized, change in relationship to landscape (Rowlandson versus Whitman or Dickinson)

-- more American voice than British or French

-- more American readers--starting with Poe

-- not as much religious emphasis in the second half: not as much Puritan writing (Hawthorne—more historical), reflection of religious tolerance (ED – “freethinker” in #324 & 465; WW—of Quaker background-- "First-Day" and "Fourth-Month"--Lincoln was killed in "Fourth-Month"--imagine what a poet like Phillis Wheatley would have done with Lincoln being shot on Good Friday!)

-- how do these works reflect America's political situation (the build-up to the Civil War, conflict over slavery & states' rights; for Whitman, the Civil War & his response to Lincoln's death in "O Captain, My Captain" and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd")? 

Study Guide for Final -- Poetry

Above is a picture of the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum in Baltimore.

Poetry –

Poe – canonical writer, wrote poetry, fiction, & criticism; did a lot to shape and promote American literature; poems written for performance – to be read aloud, very rhythmic; internal rhyme; always very dark & mysterious;

Baltimore; poems take place within the imagination

Emily Dickinson – liked to write her masterpieces inside her room, barely left her house, rarely traveled; wrote prolifically but barely published; manuscript poet (circulated within circle of friends and family); loved her dashes; loose—dashes used for any number of purposes (emphasis, pause, reason??); tight—consistent, concise, clear, clarity;

H.W. Longfellow – popular poet of the time -- "My Lost Youth"

Whitman – Leaves of Grass; a lot more life experience & insight on specific things; was a newspaper editor in New Orleans; desire to unify the torn country; response to Lincoln’s assassination (both O Captain & Lilacs); free verse; long lines; self-scrutiny, self-celebration, & observation;  Song of Myself

Readings for the Objective Final

Above is another landscape by Thomas Cole.  Below are our readings from after the midterm.

Washington Irving's "The Wife" and "Rip Van Winkle"

Catherine Maria Sedgwick's "Cacoethes Scribendi"

Jane Johnson Schoolcraft's "Mishosha"

Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Birthmark" and "Young Goodman Brown"

Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven," "Annabel Lee," and "The Fall of the House of Usher"

(We also mentioned William Carlos Williams' "The Red Wheelbarrow" and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "My Lost Youth" as well as Anne Bradstreet's "A Letter to Her Husband, Absent on Publick Employment.")

Harriet Beecher Stowe's "The Seamstress" and "Trials of a Housekeeper"

Herman Melville's "Bartleby"

Margaret Fuller's "Our City Charities"

Fanny Fern's "Blackwells Island [I-III]"

Henry David Thoreau's "Resistance to Civil Government" and Walden (Where I Lived, What I Lived For and Conclusion)

Walt Whitman's Song of Myself (1, 6, 13) and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd"

Emily Dickinson (TBA)

Annotated Bibliography

 

The picture above is from the House of the Seven Gables, a museum in Salem, MA.  The House of the Seven Gables is one of Nathaniel Hawthorne's novels.

Annotated Bibliography – Due May 12, 2010

 

In this assignment, you will be writing a five to ten item annotated bibliography that includes both primary and secondary sources on a specific topic.   Among these sources may be the literary works we’ve read, the films we’ve seen, or one or more of the web sites I’ve posted here on my blog at Multiply.  Feel free to include a source from a library database or a scholarly journal on-line or a picture or a film.

If you’re not familiar with the annotated bibliography, it is not an argumentative, research paper but an informative, expanded version of the works cited page.  Begin the annotated bibliography with a one-page overview of your topic.  The overview will also include an outline of your research process beginning with your finding a topic and then narrowing it.  Each source is then listed alphabetically, following MLA format; after each single source, you will be summarizing, evaluating, and analyzing it, explaining how it is relevant to your topic.  Strive for two to four paragraphs of summary/analysis per source.  Check the highlighted entry on sample annotated bibliographies at my blog.  I have also posted sample annotated bibliographies on a variety of topics at WebCT.

Choose a topic that is related to your earlier papers, your presentation, or the midterm.  If you are expanding your first paper on Frederick Douglass’ slave narrative, you may want to go back to see if other individuals wrote slave narratives.   You might also want to look at what others have said about Douglass and his work.  Or you may want to choose a topic from the second half of the semester. You may even want to choose a topic that is more about American culture or a film set during our time period.  Did you know that Kevin Willmott made a film imagining what the United States would have been like if the South had won the Civil War?

As you look for sources, consider the ways that research can augment and even challenge your own thinking about a work.  Use all of the library research techniques you’ve learned in high school and from your composition class—searching Web Voyage and library databases as well as Google, using note cards or other means for taking notes and avoiding plagiarism, summarizing and paraphrasing sources as well as quoting them, using quotation marks to indicate quotes, and, of course, using MLA appropriately.  Citation is an open-book quiz.  I do not expect you to have memorized MLA, but I do expect you to use a handbook to check your citation.

I encourage you to meet with a college librarian, a Writing Center tutor, or me if you are not sure how to approach this project or if you have not done this type of assignment before.  Plagiarism involves copying another person’s writing or reading a book review or abstract and then writing a bibliographic entry on the original source.  Consulting with a librarian on research strategies is not plagiarism. 

Grading

An A project will be outstanding on all or most levels: choice of topic and sources; focus of topic; close, critical reading of texts; summary; relevance of evaluation; analysis; and grammar/mechanics (including MLA).  (I have listed each level in order of importance; however, errors in the last area will affect your grade.)  It may be on a topic we have been emphasizing all semester.  In that case, it will show me new insights derived from your close, critical reading of primary and secondary sources.  Alternately, this paper may be on a reading that has been assigned but not discussed in class.  This option may not produce an easier “A,” as I will be looking at your ability to research a topic without the opportunity to discuss it in class.

A B project will be effective on all or most levels:  choice of topic and sources; focus of topic; close, critical reading of texts; summary; relevance of evaluation; analysis; and grammar/mechanics (including MLA).  (I have listed each level in order of importance; however, errors in the last area will affect your grade.)  It may be on a topic we’ve discussed in class or a reading that I’ve assigned but not discussed in class.

A C project will be adequate on all or most levels:  choice of topic and sources; focus of topic; close, critical reading of texts; summary; relevance of evaluation; analysis; and grammar/mechanics (including MLA).  (I have listed each level in order of importance; however, errors in the last area will affect your grade.)  It may be on a topic we’ve discussed in class or a reading that I’ve assigned but not discussed in class.  Note that a C is not failing, simply “average.” 

A D project will contain significant problems on one or more levels:  choice of topic and sources; focus of topic; number of sources; close, critical reading of texts; summary; relevance of evaluation; analysis; and grammar/mechanics (including MLA).   

A failing (F) project will be inadequate on one or more levels:  choice of topic and sources; focus of topic; number of sources; close, critical reading of texts; summary; relevance of evaluation; analysis; and grammar/mechanics (including MLA).

Below is a picture of one of Brook Farm's main buildings, The Hive.  I'm guessing that this picture is from the early 20th century.  For more information about Brook Farm, see this site:

 

http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/brookfarm.html

 

Final Prompts for EN 211

 

Below are the prompts for the take home part of the midterm.  Choose only one prompt.  The essay will be due on Monday, May 10. Note that you may choose to write about works that we have not discussed in class.

1.  What does the term American literature mean to you?  Discuss the contributions of up to four of our readings to your understanding of American literature.  Include at least two from after midterms (Irving, Hawthorne, et al).  Feel free to consider works from different genres as well as those from both Colonial America and the United States of America.  Consider canonical literature (works by Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman, & Dickinson) as well as more marginal works (readings by Fanny Fern, Catherine Maria Sedgwick, et al).  What role does realism play?  What role does non-fiction play?  You may also consider works we did not discuss in class.  What does each work have in common with the others?  How does each work trouble or complicate your understanding of American literature?  Who is the audience for each of the works you talk about?

2.  What role do women play in American literature before 1865?  Consider women as characters, audiences, and authors in up to four different works.  At least two of these works must be from after the midterm.  Discuss the impact of True Womanhood on the way that women are portrayed and that women portray their world and appeal to their audiences.  Note that women are both canonical writers (Dickinson, Bradstreet), semi-canonical (Beecher Stowe, Fuller), and more marginal (Sedgwick, Fern). Also, note that men like Hawthorne, Melville, and Whitman were published anonymously and that some semi-canonical or marginal authors like Fanny Fern were popular in their day.  Recognize that your viewpoint will be grounded in your historical perspective as a 21st century American, a time when more and more college graduates are women.

3.  How does American literature before 1865 depict work and the worker?  What role does race, gender, and class play?  Does it matter whether the worker is slave or free?  Or whether the worker is male or female?  What role does realism play?  What role does audience play?  Feel free to discuss both fiction and non-fiction.  You may discuss up to four works. Up to two may be from the first half of the semester.

 

4.  What role does race play in American literature before 1865?  Consider not only African-American and/or Native American authors and their writing but also African-American and/or Native American characters and audiences as well as European-Americans as a race.  Also, consider how race impacts important themes in American literature such as freedom and individualism.  Be sure to discuss the upcoming Civil War, slavery, and their impact on the nation and its literature.  Discuss up to four works from the semester so far.  Of these four works, two must be from after the midterm. 


5.  What role does genre play in American literature before 1865?  Consider the genres that you have read in other literature classes (especially at the college & AP level) and those that we are reading this semester. Discuss the impact of gender, class, race, and historical period.  Note that we have talked about some British authors (John Donne, George Herbert, Aphra Behn, Katherine Phillips, etc.) as well.  Refer to up to four works.  (The British works are above and beyond your four works to discuss.)  At least two works must be from after the midterm.

6.  What role do landscape and geography play in American literature before 1865?  Consider differences in genre, historical period, gender, race, and class among authors and their works.  Consider how attitudes towards nature have changed from Bradstreet and Rowlandson's time to Whitman and Thoreau's as Puritanism recedes into the past.  If you have studied later American literature and/or read the work of nature writers such as Terry Tempest Williams or Barry Lopez, feel free to bring their insights into your discussion.  You may also bring in insights from your reading of British writers, especially the Romantics.


Good luck!  I'm looking forward to seeing what you have to say. 

Midterm Study Guide pt. 4

The picture above is Douglass' home, Cedar Hill, which happens to be in Washington, DC.  Perhaps you may be able to visit it someday.    I know that I would like to!

Let's start this study guide by looking at the genre of life writing.  It exists on the boundary between history and literature.  As several of you mentioned, before taking this class, you might have considered our readings in life writing to be more historical than literary.  Life writing itself is divided into several sub-genres: memoirs, autobiographies, biographies, letters, journals and diaries, and travel writing.  Not all travel writing is autobiographical, though, and travel writing is often considered a separate genre.  Memoirs cover part of their authors' life.  Maya Angelou's I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings is an example of a memoir since it is only one of her several books about her life.  Autobiographies cover all or most of their authors' life.  The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is a good example of this sub-genre.


By the way, did you know that Franklin's autobiography was first published in French?  The first three sections (in English)  were published in 1818, but they were heavily edited.  The complete autobiography was not published until 1868.

We looked at our American autobiographies & memoirs in reverse chronological order, starting with Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861).  Then we moved onto Frederick Douglass' Narrative (1845).  Finally we read The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1790, 1868).

Here is an old picture of Dr. Flint's house in Edenton, N.C., the town where Jacobs was born and grew up.


This is a picture of Dr. Flint who was nearly seventy when he was tormenting Harriet!


The ideology of True Womanhood was important to our discussion of Incidents:

http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/386/truewoman.html

Note the impact of gender (and class) on Incidents as Jacobs was a "house slave." 

We also focused on depictions of childhood and work in our discussion of each of the memoirs/autobiographies.  Note that Douglass was born on a plantation and was a field hand but also worked in Baltimore.  Note that Franklin attended school for a brief period and then was apprenticed first to his father and then to his brother James. 

We also talked about references to religion in Jacobs and Douglass.  Had we time, we might have talked about religion in Franklin. 

In discussing autobiographies and memoirs, consider self-representation and appeals to the audience.

Below is a picture of Franklin's birthplace in downtown Boston.  The house itself is no more, having been destroyed by a fire in 1811.
Below is a picture of Franklin that predates the American Revolution.  Another example of 18th century British portraiture, it was painted while he was in London. 


I'll close with a picture of Frederick Douglass from 1856.  If you would like to find out more about his life, this link will take you to his biography:

http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/douglass_f.htm

Midterm Prompts for EN 211

Below are the prompts for the take home part of the midterm.  Choose only one prompt.  The essay will be due on Monday, March 22. Note that you may choose to write about works that we have not discussed in class.

1.  What does the term American literature mean to you?  Discuss the contributions of up to three of our readings to your understanding of American literature.  Feel free to consider works from different genres as well as those from both Colonial America and the United States of America.  You may also consider works we did not discuss in class.  What does each work have in common with the others?  How does each work trouble or complicate your understanding of American literature?  Note that we have talked about some British authors (John Donne, George Herbert, Aphra Behn, Katherine Phillips, etc.) as well.  (The British works are above and beyond your three works to discuss.)

2.  What role do women play in American literature before 1865?  Consider women as characters, audiences, and authors in up to three different works.  Discuss the impact of True Womanhood on the way that women are portrayed and that women portray their world and appeal to their audiences.  Recognize that your viewpoint will be grounded in your historical perspective as a 21st century American.

3.  Should it matter whether or not a work is published during its author's life?  Why?  Why not?  Should it matter whether or not a work was popular when it was first published?  Why or why not?  Refer to up to three of the works that we've read so far this semester.  Consider how publication may change a work.  Consider the authors' race, class, and gender and these factors' impact on their work and its publication.  Note that some of the British authors we've talked about were not published in print (as opposed to manuscript circulation) either.  (The British works are above and beyond your three works to discuss.)

4.  What role does race play in American literature before 1865?  Consider not only African-American and/or Native American authors and their writing but also African-American and/or Native American characters and audiences as well as European-Americans as a race.  Also, consider how race impacts important themes in American literature such as freedom and individualism.  Feel free to use 20/20 hindsight, especially about the upcoming Civil War.  Discuss up to three works from the semester so far.

5.  What role does genre play in American literature before 1865?  Consider the genres that you have read in other literature classes (especially at the college & AP level) and those that we are reading this semester.  (By the way, have we read any novels or short stories yet?!)   Discuss the impact of gender, class, race, and historical period.  Note that we have talked about some British authors (John Donne, George Herbert, Aphra Behn, Katherine Phillips, etc.) as well.  Refer to up to three works.  (The British works are above and beyond your three works to discuss.)

6.  What role do landscape and geography play in American literature before 1865?  Consider differences in genre, historical period, gender, race, and class among authors and their works.  If you have studied later American literature and/or read the work of nature writers such as Terry Tempest Williams, Barry Lopez, or Henry David Thoreau, feel free to bring their insights into your discussion.  You may also bring in insights from your reading of British writers, especially the Romantics.


Good luck!  I'm looking forward to seeing what you have to say.